World Security Institute Alex Jones Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Access to water and sanitation is a fundamental human right and essential to life, health and dignity. Timely and adequate provision of clean water and sanitation services to uprooted people is particularly important, given the vulnerability of their situation. The UN believes that all refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people and returnees should have access to adequate drinking water whether they stay in camps or in urban areas [ECOSOC, 2002]. The provision of adequate sanitation services is equally important. But the optimum benefit from water and sanitation interventions can only be achieved if communities and individuals are made aware of the links between hygiene practices, poor sanitation, polluted water sources and disease. Special efforts have been made in recent years to address critical gaps in the provision of water and sanitation services. In 2009, UNHCR will continue to boost water and sanitation projects in operations around the world.
Justice in Mexico Justice Doesn’t Come Cheap. Can the ICC Afford It? The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) made public new findings on Tuesday with respect to alleged crimes committed in Nigeria. After receiving 59 complaints since 2005, the OTP has concluded that there are grounds to believe that Boko Haram, a militia group mainly active in northeastern Nigeria, has committed the crimes against humanity of murder and persecution. The OTP report said it had found that the group has, since July 2009, “launched a widespread and systematic attack that has resulted in the killing of more than 1,200 Christian and Muslims civilians in different locations throughout Nigeria.” This moves the OTP into the final stages of its decision whether to open a new investigation. The ICC depends on voluntary cooperation from states in order to implement its mandate. States have consistently demanded that the ICC comply with a “zero growth” approach to its budget. The Nigeria findings show that the demands on the OTP will not decrease.